Louisiana

We enjoyed warm weather in Louisiana for most of our stay. When I was packing for our trip, I had first packed a bunch of clothes for cold weather. I ended up checking the forecast before we left and realized I had to start over. It was so nice to be able to take the boys outside without being bundled up and just let them play and run around the yard at their Nini and Papaw's. We had the opportunity to take them to a park a couple of times and to the zoo.

During our week there we celebrated Darius' birthday, and after much persuasion he finally gave in and agreed to have a birthday cheesecake. He was glad he did. The boys helped him blow out his candles with much blowing and spitting. It was worth it just to see them in action. Margaret was good enough to watch the boys while we enjoyed a nice dinner out at the Warehouse No. 1. It was just as good, if not better, than what we ate when we celebrated my birthday there last year. We also took advantage of the time to do our Christmas shopping for the boys.

Before the trip I had wondered how we were going to get our Christmas shopping done. I had figured it would come down to one of us doing it on our own while the other stayed with the boys. I'm so happy that's not the way it happened. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to have the time alone with Darius to shop together. Thanks again Margaret! We ended up getting everything we needed and lucky for us we packed a few extra duffel bags for the trip home.

We enjoyed our trip, the time we had to visit with friends and family, and all the yummy food! We indulged at Johnny's a few times, Margaret treated us to her delicious spaghetti sauce and a fabulous ham dinner, I had my first Po Boy sandwich (so good!), and we had the opportunity to join Thomas and Annmarie for dinner one night and grilled up some salmon we brought with us.

 Our flights there and home again all went smoothly. It took almost 2 full days to get there, and then another 2 coming back. It's a lot of time confined to a seat, and I'm always amazed that the boys do so well with it all. We were glad to get home, but it was so nice to get away for a break! Thanks again Margaret and Alfred for the nice stay, and thanks to all Darius' friends we saw for the good visits! To all those we missed, we're sorry we didn't get around to see all of you. We'll catch you all on our next visit!